Review: Chaos & Flame (Chaos & Flame #1) by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland

Darling Seabreak cannot remember anything before the murder of her family at the hands of House Dragon, but she knows she owes her life to both the power of her Chaos Boon and House Kraken for liberating her from the sewers where she spent her childhood. So when her adoptive Kraken father is captured in battle, Darling vows to save him--even if that means killing each and every last member of House Dragon.

Talon Goldhoard has always been a dutiful War Prince for House Dragon, bravely leading the elite troops of his brother, the High Prince Regent. But lately his brother's erratic rule threatens to undo a hundred years of House Dragon's hard work, and factions are turning to Talon to unseat him. Talon resists, until he's ambushed by a fierce girl who looks exactly like the one his brother has painted obsessively, repeatedly, for years, and Talon knows she's the key to everything.

Together, Darling and Talon must navigate the treacherous waters of House politics, caught up in the complicated game the High Prince Regent is playing against everyone. The unlikeliest of allies, they'll have to stop fighting each other long enough to learn to fight together in order to survive the fiery prophecies and ancient blood magic threatening to devastate their entire world.

From New York Times bestselling author Justina Ireland and Tessa Gratton comes the first book in a ferocious YA fantasy duology featuring ancient magic, warring factions, and a romance between the two people in the world with the most cause to hate one another.

Title: Chaos & Flame (Chaos & Flame #1)

Author: Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland

Publisher: Penguin Young Readers

Publication Date: March 28, 2023

Review:

I've been itching for a good fantasy story. It's hard for me to find when I have read some great ones in the past that have me comparing everything else to them. So I was pleasantly surprised to truly enjoy this one! I was expecting a garden variety type of YA but I was happy to get so very much more.

Darling Seabreak is an orphan who doesn't remember much of her life before being taken into House Kraken. Talon Goldhoard is the war prince of House Dragon, keeping his kingdom together as his erratic brother, the high prince regent, spends his time locked away from his people. But there's a storm brewing. Darling and Talon are tossed together, enemies who must work to fight the house politics and bring a peace over the lands.

I really enjoyed the world building in this book. The magical system is very unique. I love the idea of Chaos and the boons. The writing is extremely descriptive and poetic. I love the idea of houses, of course used in other stories, and also the idea that the boons are different for everyone. And that some are more powerful than others.

I'm always a fan of dual POV. I feel like with romance aspects it really makes a lot of sense. What I didn't love, however, was first person. For me, I need third person in fantasy. It truly helps build the characters out and develop them outside the confines of their own minds and how they see themselves. That being said, I did enjoy the characters.

Darling is sassy and hard headed. She's not afraid to speak her mind. She is unsure of her past but knows where she wants her future to go. I will say I wish there was a bit more about her eyes. I am not sure I truly understand what happened to her to make her the way she is. I liked her, though.

Talon is the war prince, and he's determined to protect his brother and their kingdom from any outsiders who wish to bring them harm. I liked him a lot. He's got a tough exterior but then you seen his compassion and love for his brother.

The supporting characters were a good additive to the story line. I really loved Caspian and how we did get his POV in the flashbacks given to us. I need more of him, though. He's unpredictable and erratic and I think that lends a lot to the story line. I loved the inclusion of some betrayal amongst family (I won't spoil that here but you know there's always that one characters you want to throttle). 

The romance is just ok for me. I could have used a bit more chemistry but overall you knew where it was heading. For me, you always need that slow burn in YA, I would have liked it a bit more drawn out here to help carry the story along. This is supposed to be enemies to lovers but there just wasn't that build which I expect in such a story line.

The action scenes definitely helped with the pacing of the book. There's a good amount of it, even with the infighting you see. It's fun and engaging and described well enough I found myself feeling in the middle of it all.

The ending is a cliffhanger and the story kind of takes a turn about 3/4 of the way through the book, which I wasn't necessarily expecting. Caspian's unpredictability shown through at that point. I was not expecting him to turn and do what he did. I really need to know what happens next!

Author:

Tessa Gratton is the author of adult and YA SFF novels and short stories that have been translated into twenty-two languages, nominated twice for the Otherwise Award, and several have been Junior Library Guild Selections. Her most recent novels are the dark queer fairy tales Strange Grace and Night Shine, and queer the Shakespeare retelling Lady Hotspur. Her upcoming work includes the YA fantasy Chaos and Flame (2023), and novels of Star Wars: The High Republic. Though she has lived all over the world, she currently resides at the edge of the Kansas prairie with her wife. Queer, nonbinary, she/any.

Justina Ireland is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books including Dread Nation and its sequel Deathless Divide, the middle-grade novel Ophie's Ghosts, which won the Scott O'Dell award for historical fiction, and a number of Star Wars books including Flight of the Falcon: Lando’s Luck, Spark of the Resistance, A Test of Courage, Out of the Shadows, and Mission to Disaster. She is a former editor in chief of FIYAH Literary Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, for which she won a World Fantasy Award. She holds a BA in History from Georgia Southern and an MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University.